Guard Break Guide
☰Contents
How to break closed guard in BJJ: standing break, knee break, posture techniques, and connecting guard breaks to passing systems.
Breaking closed guard is the first challenge of the top game — a reliable guard break is the foundation of your passing game and determines how quickly you can advance to dominant positions.
Why Guard Breaking Matters
Closed guard prevents you from passing. Until you break the guard, you are limited in the attacks you can attempt and vulnerable to submissions and sweeps from below. A reliable, safe guard break is the first technical skill you need to develop for top game.
Standing Guard Break
The most reliable guard break: place both hands on the hips, posture up to prevent guillotine access, stand up (one foot at a time), place one knee on the mat inside the guard, apply controlled downward pressure on one thigh with your forearm to force the guard to open. Then transition into your passing game.
Knee-in Guard Break
Without standing: from guard bottom, push both knees to the mat (one at a time), sit up tall, insert one knee between your opponent's legs near the hip, apply outward rotation pressure on their leg to force the guard open. This is a lower-risk option against dangerous guard players who might capitalize on the standing position.
Posture Fundamentals
Effective posturing is the prerequisite for guard breaking: head up, back straight, elbows in (not wide), hips forward. Against a strong closed guard, keep one hand on the collar to prevent chokes, one on the bicep to prevent submissions. Maintain pressure down to compress their hips.
Connecting Break to Pass
Guard breaking and passing should be one fluid motion — the moment the guard opens, immediately transition to your preferred pass: stack pass (when guard opens sitting down), torreando (when standing), knee slice (when kneeling). Hesitation after breaking gives them time to recompose guard or attack.
Frequently Asked Questions
The standing guard break is the safest for beginners because you can see the submissions coming and have more reaction time. Keep your posture and avoid reaching across the body. The main danger is the triangle when you lift your arm — keep the far arm posted on the hip.
Flexible guards are tight because of flexibility, not strength. Use the standing break rather than the knee break (flexibility helps them maintain closed guard on the ground). From standing, the physics of their leg position is harder to maintain.
Yes — if you have good posture, you can attack with: standing up to create passes, wrist locks when they over-grip, posture-down attacks (head and arm choke), and leg locks if they reach for sweeps. However, the primary goal is to break the guard, not to submit from inside it.